Michelle Obama is no Marie Antoinette.

Yesterday Michelle Obama took a trip to Spain with her daughter Sasha to spend some quality time with some friends. And as soon as Michelle hopped off her private plane the Marie Antoinette comparisons and holier-than-thou accusations came flooding in (from mostly right-wing conservatives). Mrs. Obama is allegedly spending her trip at the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, Spain with her entourage at $2,500 a night. What several of these articles failed to mention was that the hotel has packages that range from approximately $350- $2,500 a night. Not only are we not %100 sure Michelle and Co. are staying here, we also don’t know what package she is getting and you know what? It doesn’t matter!

Any person with Internet access and common sense could easily find out that not only were the Obamas millionaires before he took office but they are also currently making money OUTSIDE of the Whitehouse. Obama has written about 4 books that have all done extremely well, they both have made and still make money for speeches , and they are both intelligent people who probably know how to invest their money better than the average person can. Therefore, this trip was most likely not paid for by taxpayers. Even if it was, there is no proof and it a waste of time to try to figure out how the Obamas (or Michelle Obama herself) is paying for the trip. You want to be outraged about how our tax dollars are being spent? Go over to California where the city manager of Bell (with a population of 40,00) gave himself a $787,ooo salary for several years. He is most likely not the only city manage who does this. Yet, there is more outrage at a weekend trip from the First Lady.

Yes, this is lavish compared to most Americans but the Obamas are not MOST Americans. They are wealthy individuals who, compared to most people in their social group, probably aren’t even spending that much. They are also quite cultured and unlike 85% of Americans without a passport, they travel abroad. Our former President did not travel abroad often because he feared for his life and was even more disliked outside the U.S. Obama’s polls may be down but he is popular outside of the U.S. This is a woman who is spending her wealth and the has the privelege to spend her money however she pleases. This is also a private trip of a public woman. An independent woman who is the First Lady and not the Commander in Chief. Unlike our former First Lady, Michelle has her own life separate from Barack and isn’t by her husband’s side with a forced smile 24/7. Its stories like these that make me want to just give up on politics and pathetic excuses for journalism in general.